A reader suggests an alternative take on Karl Rove's bank-rolling of Joe Lieberman:
What Rove presumably wanted was for Lieberman to lose the primary but by a relatively small margin (which he did)--thereby insuring that he in fact activate his independent candidacy and that it be plausible. The GOP money achieved just that. At the same time, Rove undertook the seduction of Lieberman by supporting him as a Democrat before the primary defeat. As in: 'We love you, Joe, whatever kind of banner you fly under.' So the White House has now achieved its optimal situation. Joe’s beholden to it for the narrowness of his loss, and has been made to feel loved in a 'nonpartisan' way. And the more the Democrats distance themselves from him (as they must), the closer he feels to the Republicans. Niccolò couldn’t have arranged it better.